Pakistani elections – in pictures

Pakistani residents gather to check where their polling station is in the village of Dial on the outskirts of Lahore. Pakistani voters went to the polls on 11 May, braving Taliban threats, to cast their ballots in an election marking a historic democratic transition for the nuclear-armed state Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

Pakistani women line up to enter a polling station and cast their ballots Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP

Male voters display their national identity cards as they stand in a queue waiting to cast their votes outside a polling station in Islamabad Photograph: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images

A woman casts her vote at a polling station on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

A polling agent marks ink on a voter's thumb before she cast her vote at a polling station in Islamabad Photograph: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images

A young Pakistani child plays in front of a queue of voters Photograph: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images

A damaged windscreen of a vehicle at the scene of a fatal bomb blast in Karachi Photograph: Rehan Khan/EPA

People gather at the scene of the blast near a polling station in Karachi Photograph: Rehan Khan/EPA

Volunteers move an injured blast victim to a hospital Photograph: Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images

Relatives mourn over the dead body of a blast victim at a hospital after the explosion Photograph: Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images

Soldiers secure the scene of the blast Photograph: Bilawal Arbab/EPA

Pakistani voters line up at a polling station in Rawalpindi Photograph: Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images

A woman casts her vote in the old city of Lahore Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

A police officer searches voters before they enter a polling station in Rawalpindi Photograph: Mian Khursheed/Reuters

Voters show their ink-stained thumbs after casting their ballots Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP